New York Yankees weblog written by "DownFromNJ" EJ Fagan. Inspired by the daily exploits of the worst manager in baseball, Joe Torre.
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Thursday, October 26, 2006

Prospect Profile: Francisco Castillo (#27)

Age: 20 (just turned it this month)Height: 6'2"Weight: 195 lbsDrafted: International Free Agent out of the D.R. in 2005Position: Starting PitcherThrows: R

Stuff: Castillo has plenty of it. He throws a moving fastball at 95 mph. He throws it with smooth delivery with some deception to it. He throws a plus slider to compliment it, and is working on a changeup. Overall, everything he throws is very raw and will likely improve as he ages/.

Command: Castillo, being so raw, needs to do some serious work on the command of his fastball. He walked more than a batter every three innings over his past two seasons in the minors. He can blow the 95 mph heat by A ball batters, but will need to locate it to beat more advanced ones. He commands his slider better than his fastball, but both are very raw.

Outlook: Castillo is a very hard pitcher to predict, purely because he is so young and inexperienced. Castillo will likely start the season in Charleston, and will do his best to mature his command and changeup. He is still very young with very little minor league experience under his belt, so he has time to make mistakes. Scout.com has speculated that Castillo is destined for the bullpen, where his two excellent pitches could make him a good setup man. It is also suggested that with age and shorter outing his fastball could climb a few mph higher.